HB3404 Enrolled LRB102 13143 SPS 18486 b
1		AN ACT concerning regulation.
2		Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3		represented in the General Assembly:
4		Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5		Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot Program Act.
6		Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
7		"Department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic
8		Opportunity.
9		"Qualifying gas pipeline project" means the construction
10		or installation of gas equipment used in connection with the
11		distribution and delivery of natural gas in Pembroke Township.
12		Section 10. Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot
13		Program.
14		(a) The Department shall create the Pembroke Township
15		Natural Gas Investment Pilot Program for a duration of 5
16		years. The Program shall provide that the Department shall
17		distribute grants, subject to appropriation, from moneys in
18		the Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Fund for the
19		conversion of appliances to be compatible with natural gas.
20		(b) The Department shall adopt rules for the
21		administration of the Program. At a minimum, the rules shall
22		require that the applicant for the grants demonstrate that the

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1		grants will result in the conversion of necessary equipment to
2		have the ability to utilize natural gas. The rules shall allow
3		for conversion grants awarded to residents of Pembroke
4		Township and to Pembroke Township to provide assistance for
5		the use of natural gas and shall ensure that the applicant
6		complies with all other requirements of the rules.
7		(c) A grantee must maintain all records as required by
8		rule. The records shall be subject to audit by the Department,
9		by an auditor appointed by the Department, or by a State
10		officer authorized to conduct audits.
11		(d) Eligible applicants under this Program may include a
12		nonprofit or community action association that will help the
13		residents of Pembroke with the convergence of natural gas
14		services in the residents' homes. Notwithstanding any
15		provision of law to the contrary, an entity regulated under
16		the Public Utilities Act may serve as a grantee under this Act.
17		Section 15. Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot
18		Program Fund. The Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment
19		Pilot Program Fund is created as a special fund in the State
20		treasury. Subject to appropriation, all moneys in the Fund
21		shall be used by the Department to fund grants for qualified
22		utility infrastructure projects. The Department may accept
23		private and public funds, including federal funds, for deposit
24		into the Fund. Earnings attributable to moneys in the Fund
25		shall be deposited into the Fund.

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1		Section 20. Data collection and reporting. The Department
2		shall collect data regarding the successes and challenges of
3		the Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot Program and
4		shall submit an annual report to the Governor and the General
5		Assembly by March 1 of each year beginning in 2022 until the
6		Pilot Program terminates. The report shall: (i) make a
7		recommendation as to whether the Pilot Program should
8		continue; (ii) provide cost estimates, including the average
9		per person costs; and (iii) recommend ways in which the Pilot
10		Program can be improved to better address the needs for
11		natural gas distribution.
12		Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
13		Section 5.935 as follows:
14		(30 ILCS 105/5.935 new)
15		Sec. 5.935. The Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment
16		Pilot Program Fund.
17		Section 95. The Public Utilities Act is amended by
18		changing Section 8-406 and by adding Section 8-406.2 as
19		follows:
20		(220 ILCS 5/8-406) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406)
21		Sec. 8-406. Certificate of public convenience and

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1		necessity.
2		(a) No public utility not owning any city or village
3		franchise nor engaged in performing any public service or in
4		furnishing any product or commodity within this State as of
5		July 1, 1921 and not possessing a certificate of public
6		convenience and necessity from the Illinois Commerce
7		Commission, the State Public Utilities Commission or the
8		Public Utilities Commission, at the time this amendatory Act
9		of 1985 goes into effect, shall transact any business in this
10		State until it shall have obtained a certificate from the
11		Commission that public convenience and necessity require the
12		transaction of such business. A certificate of public
13		convenience and necessity requiring the transaction of public
14		utility business in any area of this State shall include
15		authorization to the public utility receiving the certificate
16		of public convenience and necessity to construct such plant,
17		equipment, property, or facility as is provided for under the
18		terms and conditions of its tariff and as is necessary to
19		provide utility service and carry out the transaction of
20		public utility business by the public utility in the
21		designated area.
22		(b) No public utility shall begin the construction of any
23		new plant, equipment, property or facility which is not in
24		substitution of any existing plant, equipment, property or
25		facility or any extension or alteration thereof or in addition
26		thereto, unless and until it shall have obtained from the

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1		Commission a certificate that public convenience and necessity
2		require such construction. Whenever after a hearing the
3		Commission determines that any new construction or the
4		transaction of any business by a public utility will promote
5		the public convenience and is necessary thereto, it shall have
6		the power to issue certificates of public convenience and
7		necessity. The Commission shall determine that proposed
8		construction will promote the public convenience and necessity
9		only if the utility demonstrates: (1) that the proposed
10		construction is necessary to provide adequate, reliable, and
11		efficient service to its customers and is the least-cost means
12		of satisfying the service needs of its customers or that the
13		proposed construction will promote the development of an
14		effectively competitive electricity market that operates
15		efficiently, is equitable to all customers, and is the least
16		cost means of satisfying those objectives; (2) that the
17		utility is capable of efficiently managing and supervising the
18		construction process and has taken sufficient action to ensure
19		adequate and efficient construction and supervision thereof;
20		and (3) that the utility is capable of financing the proposed
21		construction without significant adverse financial
22		consequences for the utility or its customers.
23		(c) After the effective date of this amendatory Act of
24		1987, no construction shall commence on any new nuclear power
25		plant to be located within this State, and no certificate of
26		public convenience and necessity or other authorization shall

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1		be issued therefor by the Commission, until the Director of
2		the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency finds that the
3		United States Government, through its authorized agency, has
4		identified and approved a demonstrable technology or means for
5		the disposal of high level nuclear waste, or until such
6		construction has been specifically approved by a statute
7		enacted by the General Assembly.
8		As used in this Section, "high level nuclear waste" means
9		those aqueous wastes resulting from the operation of the first
10		cycle of the solvent extraction system or equivalent and the
11		concentrated wastes of the subsequent extraction cycles or
12		equivalent in a facility for reprocessing irradiated reactor
13		fuel and shall include spent fuel assemblies prior to fuel
14		reprocessing.
15		(d) In making its determination under subsection (b) of
16		this Section, the Commission shall attach primary weight to
17		the cost or cost savings to the customers of the utility. The
18		Commission may consider any or all factors which will or may
19		affect such cost or cost savings, including the public
20		utility's engineering judgment regarding the materials used
21		for construction.
22		(e) The Commission may issue a temporary certificate which
23		shall remain in force not to exceed one year in cases of
24		emergency, to assure maintenance of adequate service or to
25		serve particular customers, without notice or hearing, pending
26		the determination of an application for a certificate, and may

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1		by regulation exempt from the requirements of this Section
2		temporary acts or operations for which the issuance of a
3		certificate will not be required in the public interest.
4		A public utility shall not be required to obtain but may
5		apply for and obtain a certificate of public convenience and
6		necessity pursuant to this Section with respect to any matter
7		as to which it has received the authorization or order of the
8		Commission under the Electric Supplier Act, and any such
9		authorization or order granted a public utility by the
10		Commission under that Act shall as between public utilities be
11		deemed to be, and shall have except as provided in that Act the
12		same force and effect as, a certificate of public convenience
13		and necessity issued pursuant to this Section.
14		No electric cooperative shall be made or shall become a
15		party to or shall be entitled to be heard or to otherwise
16		appear or participate in any proceeding initiated under this
17		Section for authorization of power plant construction and as
18		to matters as to which a remedy is available under The Electric
19		Supplier Act.
20		(f) Such certificates may be altered or modified by the
21		Commission, upon its own motion or upon application by the
22		person or corporation affected. Unless exercised within a
23		period of 2 years from the grant thereof authority conferred
24		by a certificate of convenience and necessity issued by the
25		Commission shall be null and void.
26		No certificate of public convenience and necessity shall

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1		be construed as granting a monopoly or an exclusive privilege,
2		immunity or franchise.
3		(g) A public utility that undertakes any of the actions
4		described in items (1) through (3) of this subsection (g) or
5		that has obtained approval pursuant to Section 8-406.1 of this
6		Act shall not be required to comply with the requirements of
7		this Section to the extent such requirements otherwise would
8		apply. For purposes of this Section and Section 8-406.1 of
9		this Act, "high voltage electric service line" means an
10		electric line having a design voltage of 100,000 or more. For
11		purposes of this subsection (g), a public utility may do any of
12		the following:
13		(1) replace or upgrade any existing high voltage
14		electric service line and related facilities,
15		notwithstanding its length;
16		(2) relocate any existing high voltage electric
17		service line and related facilities, notwithstanding its
18		length, to accommodate construction or expansion of a
19		roadway or other transportation infrastructure; or
20		(3) construct a high voltage electric service line and
21		related facilities that is constructed solely to serve a
22		single customer's premises or to provide a generator
23		interconnection to the public utility's transmission
24		system and that will pass under or over the premises owned
25		by the customer or generator to be served or under or over
26		premises for which the customer or generator has secured

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1		the necessary right of way.
2		(h) A public utility seeking to construct a high-voltage
3		electric service line and related facilities (Project) must
4		show that the utility has held a minimum of 2 pre-filing public
5		meetings to receive public comment concerning the Project in
6		each county where the Project is to be located, no earlier than
7		6 months prior to filing an application for a certificate of
8		public convenience and necessity from the Commission. Notice
9		of the public meeting shall be published in a newspaper of
10		general circulation within the affected county once a week for
11		3 consecutive weeks, beginning no earlier than one month prior
12		to the first public meeting. If the Project traverses 2
13		contiguous counties and where in one county the transmission
14		line mileage and number of landowners over whose property the
15		proposed route traverses is one-fifth or less of the
16		transmission line mileage and number of such landowners of the
17		other county, then the utility may combine the 2 pre-filing
18		meetings in the county with the greater transmission line
19		mileage and affected landowners. All other requirements
20		regarding pre-filing meetings shall apply in both counties.
21		Notice of the public meeting, including a description of the
22		Project, must be provided in writing to the clerk of each
23		county where the Project is to be located. A representative of
24		the Commission shall be invited to each pre-filing public
25		meeting.
26		(i) For applications filed after the effective date of

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1		this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, the
2		Commission shall by registered mail notify each owner of
3		record of land, as identified in the records of the relevant
4		county tax assessor, included in the right-of-way over which
5		the utility seeks in its application to construct a
6		high-voltage electric line of the time and place scheduled for
7		the initial hearing on the public utility's application. The
8		utility shall reimburse the Commission for the cost of the
9		postage and supplies incurred for mailing the notice.
10		(Source: P.A. 99-399, eff. 8-18-15.)
11		(220 ILCS 5/8-406.2 new)
12		Sec. 8-406.2. Certificate of public convenience and
13		necessity; extension of utility service area and facilities to
14		serve designated hardship areas.
15		(a) This Section is intended to provide a mechanism by
16		which a gas public utility may extend its service territory
17		and gas distribution system to provide service to designated
18		low-income areas whose residents do not have access to natural
19		gas service and must purchase more costly alternatives to
20		satisfy their energy needs.
21		(b) In this Section:
22		"Designated hardship area" is limited to Pembroke
23		Township, if the Township meets certain requirements. Any
24		"designated hardship area" only applies to the specific
25		community of Pembroke within the scope of the Project.

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1		Pembroke Township will only be categorized as a "designated
2		hardship area" if it meets the following requirements:
3		(1) the area is designated as a qualified census tract
4		by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as
5		published in the most current Federal Register; if the
6		U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ceases to
7		make this designation, then at least 25% of the households
8		in the area are at or below the poverty level; and
9		(2) the area is not currently served by a gas utility.
10		"Hardship area facilities" means all gas distribution
11		system facilities that are proposed to be constructed or
12		extended and used to serve the designated hardship area,
13		through and including retail gas meters. "Hardship area
14		facilities" includes the capacity to address reasonably
15		foreseeable growth in areas adjacent to or in the vicinity of
16		the designated hardship area.
17		(c) A gas public utility may apply for a certificate of
18		public convenience and necessity pursuant to this Section to
19		increase its gas service territory and extend its gas
20		distribution system to serve a designated hardship area. An
21		application under this Section shall include all of the
22		following:
23		(1) a description of the designated hardship area and
24		its relationship to the existing gas distribution system
25		of the applicant;
26		(2) a showing that the designated hardship area meets

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1		the criteria for being a designated hardship area under
2		subsection (b) of this Section;
3		(3) a description of the hardship area facilities
4		proposed to serve the designated hardship area;
5		(4) a projection of the costs to construct and deploy
6		the hardship area facilities;
7		(5) a showing that the estimated cost to construct and
8		deploy the hardship area facilities is equal to or less
9		than 250% of the amount allowed under the gas utilities'
10		then current tariffs to provide standard service to extend
11		main and services; and
12		(6) a statement to confirm that the public utility has
13		held at least 2 pre-filing public meetings in the
14		community and considered public input from those meetings
15		when developing and implementing its plans.
16		(d) The Commission shall, after notice and hearing, grant
17		a certificate of public convenience and necessity under this
18		Section if, based upon the application filed with the
19		Commission and the evidentiary record, the Commission finds
20		that all of the following criteria are satisfied:
21		(1) the area to be served is a designated hardship
22		area;
23		(2) the proposed hardship area facilities will provide
24		adequate, reliable, and efficient gas delivery service to
25		the customers within the designated hardship area and are
26		the least-cost means of providing such gas delivery

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1		service to these customers;
2		(3) the public utility is capable of efficiently
3		managing and supervising the construction of the hardship
4		area facilities and has taken sufficient action to ensure
5		adequate and efficient construction and supervision of the
6		construction;
7		(4) the public utility is capable of financing the
8		construction of the hardship area facilities without
9		significant adverse financial consequences for the utility
10		or its customers;
11		(5) the estimated cost to construct and deploy the
12		hardship area facilities is equal to or less than 250% of
13		the amount allowed under the gas utilities then current
14		tariffs to provide standard service to extend main and
15		services;
16		(6) the public utility can guarantee that residents of
17		Hopkins Park who choose to opt out of converting to a
18		natural gas delivery service will not be assessed any
19		charges relating to the pipeline construction or any other
20		fees relating to the designated hardship area facilities;
21		(7) the public utility disclosed to the Commission the
22		mapping of the proposed pipeline and infrastructure
23		management requirements within the designated hardship
24		area; and
25		(8) the public utility has guaranteed that, before
26		implementation, it will disclose to the Commission the

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1		cost to the utility for customers of Hopkins Park to
2		utilize gas services.
3		(e) The Commission shall issue its decision with findings
4		of fact and conclusions of law granting or denying the
5		application no later than 120 days after the application is
6		filed.